Last year Formula 1reached its 1000thworld
championshipgrand prix. Amid much pageantry
and retrospective brouhahaat the race in question- China – thecommercial rights holder alsopaid
tribute to thegrandeestorytellers ofthe paddock,
awardingone of its newly minted celebratoryprecious metal
coins to thejournalist who had coveredthe most F1 races.
That recordbelongs, indisputably, to Giorgio Piola,for whom
China 2019washis 811thworking grand prix.
Drawing hasbeen among Piola’s passions from anearly
age. In his teens headopted cars as his preferred subjec t and
went to collegeto study engineering but, at theage of 18,
having firedoff a collection of his illustrations tothe Italian
magazineAutosprint, Piola received a letter that would
changehis life. The editor invitedhim to cover the Monaco
Grand Prix for them and compile a technical report.
That was 1969 and,upon hi s return,Piol a gave up his
studies and has been working as a journalist andtechnical
illustrator ever since.His workhas graced the pagesof
newspapers, magazines andwebsites the world over,
includingGP Racing; we’ll be chartingthe ongoingcar
development warwith the helpof Piola’s images aspart of
our expanded race coveragethis season.
Giorgio attributes his success and longevityto being
multilingual as well as being well-connected – and
providing a unique service.
“There have alwaysbeen journalists and photographers
but I invented a newprofession,” he says.“Nobody else was
going torace s and makingdetailed drawingsofthe carsat
that time. Itwas my boyhood dream. I wasalways making
drawings, inschool I was very silent, andI was always
trainingmy eyes to be able to lookatthe teacher – so he
believedI was following his lesson – while drawing.This
became animportantskill.
“I’m not a qualifiedengineer and I don’tclaim to be, but
I’m passionate aboutthe engineering detai ls. I can look at
a car andsee immediately whatis new. It’sbecause Iwas
training myeyes from this early age.
“At thistime there wasmuch greater access to the senior
engineers. Youcould justwalk up andchat to peoplelike
Tony Southgate, Harvey Postlethwaite,Gordon Murray,
Ralph Bellamy, Patrick Head or John Barnard.For me the
relationshipwas like they were theteacher and I wasthe
student, and I think theyrespected me forthat.
And they knew I would never reveal information
given to me in confidence.
“And the longer you stay in the sport, t he more you
realise that sometimes eventhe very goodengineers
can’t just look ata si ngle componentand say exactlywha t
it’s doing. This iswhy I’m always very suspicious of people
who set themselves up as technical experts and claim they
can explain everything. I remember whenthe Lotus 78 and
79 wereracing – the first ground-effect cars – and it tooka
long time for peopleto unders tand that thesecret was the
seal ing of the underfloor.Mario Andretti would say it was
the differential andmany peoplebeli eved him.
“I looked at these cars [the Lotuses] andI kn ew
instinctively –it was like an animalinstinct – that it was
the ski rts and the underbody sealingthat w as creating
the performance.”
Piola hasadaptedhis technique over the years as the
technological tools available havedeve loped. He still draws
by hand, using his ownphotographs as a reference. Gone
are the days, sadly, whenhe could stride into teamgarage s
and sketchdirectly from the ca r; now he patrols the pitlane
with a digital camera anduses a scanner and a portable
drawing board to produce aninitial monochrome image,
to which he (or his assistants at base) add colour.When
you lookbackthrough the archive you’llnotice a significant
style change inthe early 1980s when his first wife, afashion
designer, suggestedusin g a thicker gaugeof technical pen.
“Straight awayI took a copy of one ofmy drawings and
retracedit, double oreven threetim es thicker, andit looked
much more three-dimensional– it was lifting fromthe page.
And this help came fromsomeone whodidn’t know anything
about racingcars. You can always learn something new.
“At every race there are at least 60new developments or
components thatdeserve to have adrawing. Sometimes it’s
just a tinydetail. And theydon’t alwayscome fromthe to p
teams: fouryears agoToro Rosso in troduced gillson the
leading edgesof the rear wing endplates,and everybody- including Mercedesand Red Bull – copiedthem. Most
of the time it’s true that the top teams lead thetechnical
innovations,but not always. If you watch Adrian Newey on
the grid, you’ll seehe walks up and down lookingat every
single car. He evenused to look at the Manor...”
PRO^02 Businessprofile
THIS MONTH
Giorgio
Piola
Giorgio Piola has been spotting and ex quisitely illustrating Formul a 1’s
tech secrets for half a century. And the great thing about F1, he tells
GP Racing, is that he’s still learning new tricks every race...INTERVIEW
STUART
CODLING
CV
Born
1No vember1941,Genoa
2016
F1technicalexpert,
Motorsport.com
2013-2016
Technicalcommentator,
RaiSports
2011-2012
Technical
commentator,CSR
2008-2010
Technicalcommentator,
SkyItalia
1990-2007
Technicalcommentator,
Italia1/RaiSports
1975-2015
Technicaljournalist,
GazzettadelloSport
1970-1975
Technicaljournalist,
Autosprint32 GP RACING MARCH 2020
F1technicalexpertPICTURES:MARKSUTTONLast year Formula 1reached its 1000thworld
championshipgrand prix. Amid much pageantry
and retrospective brouhahaat the race in question- China – thecommercial rights holder alsopaid
tribute to thegrandeestorytellers ofthe paddock,
awardingone of its newly minted celebratoryprecious metal
coins to thejournalist who had coveredthe most F1 races.
That recordbelongs, indisputably, to Giorgio Piola,for whom
China 2019washis 811thworking grand prix.
Drawing hasbeen among Piola’s passions from anearly
age. In his teens headopted cars as his preferred subjec t and
went to collegeto study engineering but, at theage of 18,
having firedoff a collection of his illustrations tothe Italian
magazineAutosprint, Piola received a letter that would
changehis life. The editor invitedhim to cover the Monaco
Grand Prix for them and compile a technical report.
That was 1969 and,upon hi s return,Piol a gave up his
studies and has been working as a journalist andtechnical
illustrator ever since.His workhas graced the pagesof
newspapers, magazines andwebsites the world over,
includingGP Racing; we’ll be chartingthe ongoingcar
development warwith the helpof Piola’s images aspart of
our expanded race coveragethis season.
Giorgio attributes his success and longevityto being
multilingual as well as being well-connected – and
providing a unique service.
“There have alwaysbeen journalists and photographers
but I invented a newprofession,” he says.“Nobody else was
going torace s and makingdetailed drawingsofthe carsat
that time. Itwas my boyhood dream. I wasalways making
drawings, inschool I was very silent, andI was always
trainingmy eyes to be able to lookatthe teacher – so he
believedI was following his lesson – while drawing.This
became animportantskill.
“I’m not a qualifiedengineer and I don’tclaim to be, but
I’m passionate aboutthe engineering detai ls. I can look at
a car andsee immediately whatis new. It’sbecause Iwas
training myeyes from this early age.
“At thistime there wasmuch greater access to the senior
engineers. Youcould justwalk up andchat to peoplelike
Tony Southgate, Harvey Postlethwaite,Gordon Murray,
Ralph Bellamy, Patrick Head or John Barnard.For me the
relationshipwas like they were theteacher and I wasthe
student, and I think theyrespected me forthat.
And they knew I would never reveal information
given to me in confidence.
“And the longer you stay in the sport, t he more you
realise that sometimes eventhe very goodengineers
can’t just look ata si ngle componentand say exactlywha t
it’s doing. This iswhy I’m always very suspicious of people
who set themselves up as technical experts and claim they
can explain everything. I remember whenthe Lotus 78 and
79 wereracing – the first ground-effect cars – and it tooka
long time for peopleto unders tand that thesecret was the
seal ing of the underfloor.Mario Andretti would say it was
the differential andmany peoplebeli eved him.
“I looked at these cars [the Lotuses] andI kn ew
instinctively –it was like an animalinstinct – that it was
the ski rts and the underbody sealingthat w as creating
the performance.”
Piola hasadaptedhis technique over the years as the
technological tools available havedeve loped. He still draws
by hand, using his ownphotographs as a reference. Gone
are the days, sadly, whenhe could stride into teamgarage s
and sketchdirectly from the ca r; now he patrols the pitlane
with a digital camera anduses a scanner and a portable
drawing board to produce aninitial monochrome image,
to which he (or his assistants at base) add colour.When
you lookbackthrough the archive you’llnotice a significant
style change inthe early 1980s when his first wife, afashion
designer, suggestedusin g a thicker gaugeof technical pen.
“Straight awayI took a copy of one ofmy drawings and
retracedit, double oreven threetim es thicker, andit looked
much more three-dimensional– it was lifting fromthe page.
And this help came fromsomeone whodidn’t know anything
about racingcars. You can always learn something new.
“At every race there are at least 60new developments or
components thatdeserve to have adrawing. Sometimes it’s
just a tinydetail. And theydon’t alwayscome fromthe to p
teams: fouryears agoToro Rosso in troduced gillson the
leading edgesof the rear wing endplates,and everybody- including Mercedesand Red Bull – copiedthem. Most
of the time it’s true that the top teams lead thetechnical
innovations,but not always. If you watch Adrian Newey on
the grid, you’ll seehe walks up and down lookingat every
single car. He evenused to look at the Manor...”
PRO^02 Businessprofile
THIS MONTH
Giorgio
Piola
Giorgio Piola has been spotting and ex quisitely illustrating Formul a 1’s
tech secrets for half a century. And the great thing about F1, he tells
GP Racing, is that he’s still learning new tricks every race...INTERVIEW
STUART
CODLING
CV
Born
1No vember1941,Genoa
2016
F1technicalexpert,
Motorsport.com
2013-2016
Technicalcommentator,
RaiSports
2011-2012
Technical
commentator,CSR
2008-2010
Technicalcommentator,
SkyItalia
1990-2007
Technicalcommentator,
Italia1/RaiSports
1975-2015
Technicaljournalist,
GazzettadelloSport
1970-1975
Technicaljournalist,
Autosprint32 GP RACING MARCH 2020
F1technicalexpertPICTURES:MARKSUTTON